It seems fitting that I end the year with a post about the only thing that it seemed that I could write about in the last 365 days – music. Honestly, to those who are able to work a hectic job, spend time with a significant other and do whatever else life requires of them and still find time to regularly blog about a variety of topics of interest to them…kudos! 2009 simply didn’t now allow me that luxury, and there’s no telling if 2010 will relent. The benefit to developing software in a fast-paced environment is that when I’m not in meetings or manically scrawling ideas on a whiteboard, it’s “nose to the grindstone” coding and I require a soundtrack for that.

Like bygone years, I have assembled a list of albums released this year that I found to be to my liking. As per usual, here it is in alphabetical order and includes my selection for “album of the year”.

I had hoped for the best of Spiral Stairs‘ The Real Feel but I simply would rather see the reunited Pavement come to Toronto. And I was really anticipating Mew‘s follow-up to their excellent And the Glass Handed Kite album, No More Stories, but I found it quite “meh”.

Finally, I’m not Pitchfork nor am I some hipster with black-rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, ironic t-shirts and an iPhone in my hand. That being said, I always try to like an Animal Collective album when it’s released but I’m ultimately disappointed at how unlistenable (to me) their music is. Merriweather Post Pavilion is no exception. It’ll appear at the top of all of the “cool” year end lists, and maybe even some uncool lists too. However, it won’t be on mine. Yuck.